-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enviro-Mich message from "Liz Godfrey" <lizgodfrey@prodigy.net>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Michigan conservatonists!
We have a great opportunity to help our Canadian countreparts.
Environmentalists across Canada have been working hard to introduce and pass
a Canadian Endangered Species Act. They are not lucky enough to have a law
on the books like our Endangered Species Act.
We can help them implement this great legislation by signing on to the
letter to President Clinton which is attached to this alert. Here in the
North Country, we understand the importance of protecting trans-boundary
species. The native plants and animals of Michigan are intricately linked
between the
U.S. and Canada.
This is a great opportunity to pass hostoric legislation. Please read the
following alert and sign-on to the letter to President Clinton by Monday,
October 4. Please also pass this alert far and wide to garner broad
support. Thank you.
Liz Godfrey
GREEN-Midwest Federal Organizer
(608) 294-1338
**************************************************
September 28, 1999
Folks,
There is movement growing by leaps and bounds in Canada to pass
a strong federal Canadian Endangered Species Act.
A bill is expected to be offered in Parliament this fall and unlike here
in the US, will probably only take 7 or 8 months to be resolved. The
cards look better both within the government and amongst the
Canadian people to successfully pass a strong act, but the task will
still be daunting.
You can assist Canadian activists to prepare for their upcoming
efforts by signing the following letter to President Clinton.
President Clinton will be traveling to Canada early next month to
meet with Prime Minister Chretien. We hope this letter will help
convenience Clinton to make the Canadian ESA part of his talks.
The more groups that sign the letter, the better chance we have of
President Clinton talking about a strong Canadian ESA with strong
protections for trans-boundary endangered species and strong
habitat protections.
Our Canadian friends working on the Canadian ESA bill tell us that
the only way the Canadian government will take seriously the need
for protecting trans-boundary endangered and threatened species is
if a huge push comes from the US to force them to take these
protections seriously. Signing your group on to this letter is a good
first start down this path.
There are many other great reasons for your group to sign the
letter, but you get the drift!
We'll be following the efforts of our friends to the north very carefully
and stand ready to help them in any way possible. Rest assured
that you'll be the first to know when the next opportunity to help
arises.
Take a look at the following letter and do all you can to get as many
groups as possible onto the letter.
The deadline for this letter is noon (MDT), Monday, October 4. The
letter will go to the White House the next day - so be prompt!
Thanks,
Roger Featherstone GREEN Director
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GREEN is a project of Defenders of
Wildlife designed to serve grassroots wildlife and wildlands
advocates. GREEN policy positions do not necessarily represent
those of Defenders of Wildlife.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT TO DO:
Sign your group on to the following letter. Send your group's name,
a contact person and address to <rfeather@albq.defenders.org>.
The deadline for the letter is noon (MDT), Monday, October 4.
If you don't belong to a group, or cannot get your group's approval
in time, use this letter as an example for your own letter to the
President.
Spread this alert far and wide! This letter is very important!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CANADIAN ESA SIGN-ON LETTER
TO PRESIDENT CLINTON
October 5, 1999
The Honorable William Clinton President The White House 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Sir:
We are writing to ask that you urge the Canadian Government to
move swiftly and pass legislation protecting endangered species and
their habitat. It is particularly important that such a law protect the
habitat of the many endangered species that are shared between
Canada and the U.S.
As you may know, Canada has no federal endangered species
legislation. Worse still, only six of Canada's twelve provinces and
territories have such legislation (and even those six laws are
extremely weak). The situation is so bad that over 600 of Canada's
leading biological scientists recently wrote to the Prime Minister
urging him to take
action on this issue. Canada's lack of endangered species
legislation
is not just a Canadian problem, it is also undermines species recovery
efforts in the U.S.
There are currently 313 species listed as being endangered or `at risk'
in Canada. Nearly 80% of those species are ones that migrate or range
across the Canada-U.S. border (so called "cross-border" species). For
example, threatened grizzly bears in northern Montana or Idaho range
freely into southwestern Canada, where they can legally be shot or have
their habitat destroyed (despite being listed as a `vulnerable' species
in Canada) because of Canada's lack of endangered species legislation.
Other notable cross-border endangered species include the marbled
murrelet, woodland caribou, spotted owl, eastern cougar and whooping
crane - to name just a few. Each of these species, and its habitat,
receives legal protection in the U.S., but not in Canada. The simple
fact is these shared endangered species can only be saved through
effective protection in both countries.
Canada's lack of endangered species legislation is indefensible. Since
1992, many other nations - such as Mexico, Australia and Japan - have
passed strong laws protecting endangered species and their habitat.
The Canadian government has been promising to pass such a law since
1994, but has not yet done so. The government did introduce an
endangered species bill in 1996, but that bill (which died when an
election was called in 1997) was widely criticized by media,
environmentalists and scientists for being too weak. In particular,
that 1996 bill did almost nothing to protect cross-border endangered
species because it did not protect their habitat. The bill would have
prohibited direct harm to cross-border species, but it would not have
prevented destruction of their habitat - which is the main threat
facing almost all endangered species.
Without strong legislation in Canada, including habitat protection,
U.S. efforts to protect our endangered species will be compromised.
All the time, energy and money which the U.S. is dedicating to
recovering the grizzly bear, spotted owl, marbled murrelet and many
other cross-border species will be severely hampered if those species
are not protected in the Canadian portion of their ranges.
Canada's lack of endangered species legislation is not only a serious
environmental problem, it also confers an unfair competitive advantage
on Canadian industries who, unlike their U.S. and Mexican counterparts,
do not have to bear the costs of protecting vanishing species. For
example, timber companies in British Columbia continue to log public
forest lands that are habitat for spotted owls, marbled murrelets,
salmon, grizzly bears and other threatened species (and export much of
this wood to the U.S.), whereas timber companies in the Pacific
Northwest have substantially reduced, or stopped, logging in the
habitat areas of these species.
As the U.S. and Canada work to liberalize trade across the two
countries' borders, they must also work together to address cross-
border environmental issues, of which endangered species are a prime
example. Indeed, the North American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation specifically calls for cooperative efforts to protect
endangered species (in Articles 1 and 10 for example). Of the three
NAFTA countries, Canada is the only one which does not have legislation
protecting endangered species and their habitat.
The Government of Canada has promised to table a new endangered species
bill by the end of the year. Canada's new Environment Minister, David
Anderson, recently indicated that he would prefer a law that protects
species' habitat on all lands - which would be a major improvement from
the previous bill. However, there is strong pressure from the
provinces and certain industry groups for the federal government to
back down and not protect habitat. We strongly urge you to contact
Canada's Prime Minister and encourage him to introduce this long-
overdue legislation, and in particular, to ensure that the new bill
protects all endangered species that range between Canada and the U.S.
and their habitat -- as the U.S. ESA does, and as Minister Anderson is
now proposing. It is imperative that Canada do its part to protect
shared species at risk.
We hope that you will take advantage of this critical opportunity to
work with Canada to preserve North America's rich biological heritage.
Signed,
Your Group and Hundreds More!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roger Featherstone, GREEN Director
PO Box 40046, Albuquerque, NM 87196-0046
(505) 255-5966 x102 fax, (505) 255-5953 rfeather@defenders.org
http://www.defenders.org/grnhome.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
==============================================================
ENVIRO-MICH: Internet List and Forum for Michigan Environmental
and Conservation Issues and Michigan-based Citizen Action. Archives at
http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/enviro-mich/
Postings to: enviro-mich@great-lakes.net For info, send email to
majordomo@great-lakes.net with a one-line message body of "info enviro-mich"
==============================================================